Cinespot : HK Cinema 2003: A Summary

Hong Kong Cinema 2003

Foreword

Without doubt, 2003 was a miserable year for the HK entertainment industry. The Hong Kong film market was continuing its recession, the number of productions was still at its lowest peak as compared to the heydays in the 1980s. Other big losses include the death of super stars Leslie Cheung, Anita Mui, stuntman Blacky Ko, actor Joe Lee, writer Lam Chun-keung...

Now that 2003 was gone, we hope that all the bad and sad things would go away too and that 2004 will be a fruitful year for Hong Kong as well as the world. But before we move on, let's do a review of HK cinema of 2003.

This year, our year end summary is much larger in scale, as not only our main reviewer Kantorates has shared his thoughts, several of our reviewers from the Chinese chapter, including manny468, Ryan and EricLiu0709 have also participated. Together, the four of them have selected the best and the worst of the year.

* The discussion of the 4 reviewers were omitted as the original manuscript was too big.

Best Picture (Nominees)

Kantorates PTU Running on Karma Infernal Affairs 2 Lost in Time Men Suddenly in Black Truth or Dare Color of the Truth Heroic Duo Turn Left Turn Right	manny468 PTU Truth or Dare Color of the Truth Heroic Duo Men Suddenly in Black Running on Karma Lost in Time
Ryan Infernal Affairs 2 Running on Karma PTU Infernal Affairs 3 Lost in Time	EricLiu0709 Lost in Time Heroic Duo PTU Running on Karma Truth or Dare Infernal Affairs 2

Winners: PTU / Lost in Time (4 votes)

Remarks - We excluded Zhou Yu's Train, Warriors of Heaven and Earth and Blue Gate Crossing from Ryan's tentative list because these 3 films are not qualified Hong Kong productions.

Worst Picture (Nominees)

Kantorates Why Me Sweetie Looking for Mr. Perfect Feel 100% 2003 Dragon Loaded Spy Dad The Park	manny468 Black Mask 2 My Lucky Star Love for All Season Cat and Mouse Why Me Sweetie Feel 100% 2003 The Park
Ryan Black Mask 2 Honesty	EricLiu0709 Dragon Loaded Honesty Why Me Sweetie Love Undercover 2 My Dream Girl

Winner: Why Me Sweetie (3 votes)

Remarks - Not intended to discourage filmmakers, this category was actually made to encourage and provoke introspection. An interesting trend is that, compared to the best movie category, it seems that most of the good works were released in the second half of the year while the worse mostly came out in the first half.

Biggest Disappointment (Nominees)

Kantorates Looking for Mr. Perfect Twins Effect Good Times Bed Times The Park Floating Landscape Hidden Track Night Corridor	manny468 Infernal Affairs 2 The Park Naked Ambition Death Curse Turn Left Turn Right Hidden Track
Ryan Sound of Color Turn Left Turn Right	EricLiu0709 Good Times Bed Times Turn Left Turn Right Sky of Love Infernal Affairs 3 Twins Effect

Winner: Turn Left Turn Right (3 votes)

Remarks - Except for the winner, there was no dominating nominees in this category, which, obviously shows the different taste and judging criteria of the reviewers.

Hidden Gems (Nominees)

Kantorates Men Suddenly in Black Fu Bo	manny468 Give Them a Chance Happy Go Lucky Miss Du Shi Niang
Ryan Men Suddenly in Black	EricLiu0709 Night Corridor Truth or Dare Heroic Duo Color of Truth Fu Bo

Winner: Men Suddenly in Black / Fu Bo (2 votes)

Best Director (Nominees)

Kantorates Johnnie To, PTU Johnnie To/Wai Ka-fai, Running on Karma Wong Jing/Mak, Color of Truth Edmond Pang, Men Suddenly in Black Andrew Lau/Alan Mak, Infernal Affairs 2	manny468 Johnnie To, PTU Johnnie To/Wai Ka-fai, Running on Karma Edmond Pang, Men Suddenly in Black Derek Yee, Lost in Time
Ryan Alan Mak, Infernal Affairs 2 Edmond Pang, Men Suddenly in Black	EricLiu0709 Benny Chan, Heroic Duo Andrew Lau/Alan Mak, Infernal Affairs 2 Edmond Pang, Men Suddenly in Black Johnnie To, PTU Derek Yee, Lost in Time

Winner : Edmond Pang, Men Suddenly in Black (4 votes)

Remarks - It was quite a surprise to see Edmond Pang beating Johnnie To in this category. Another thing worth to mention is that Ryan chose to nominate Alan Mak only for Infernal Affairs 2, because he believed that this film would simply become another Young and Dangerous if Mak was not in the production team.

Best Actor (Nominees)

Kantorates Liu Kai-chi, Fu Bo Simon Yam, PTU Leon Lai, Heroic Duo Eric Tsang, Men Suddenly in Black Francis Ng, Infernal Affairs 2 Anthony Wong, Infernal Affairs 2 Lau Ching-wan, Lost in Time	manny468 Simon Yam, PTU Anthony Wong, Color of Truth Leon Lai, Heroic Duo Andy Lau, Running on Karma Francis Ng, Infernal Affairs 2 Daichi Harashima, Lost in Time Andy Lau, Infernal Affairs 3 Tony Leung, Sound of Colors
Ryan Eric Tsang, Infernal Affairs 2 Francis Ng, , Infernal Affairs 2 Eric Tsang, Men Suddenly in Black Anthony Wong, Infernal Affairs 2	EricLiu0709 Francis Ng, Infernal Affairs 2 Anthony Wong, Infernal Affairs 2 Andy Lau, Running on Karma Leon Lai, Heroic Duo Leon Lai, Infernal Affairs 3 Lau Ching-wan, Lost in Time

Winner: Francis Ng, , Infernal Affairs 2 (4 votes)

Remarks - Apart from Kantorates's Liu Kai-chi and manny468's Daichi Harashima, the nominees are still the usual suspects including Anthony Wong, Francis Ng, Tony Leung, Andy Lau, Eric Tsang...

Best Actress (Nominees)

Kantorates Cecilia Cheung, Lost in Time Cecilia Cheung, Running on Karma Karena Lam, Truth or Dare Teresa Mo, Men Suddenly in Black Athena Chu, Shiver	manny468 Cecilia Cheung, Lost in Time Josie Ho, Naked Ambition Cecilia Cheung, Running on Karma Michelle Reis, Miss Du Shi Niang
Ryan Cecilia Cheung, Lost in Time	EricLiu0709 Cecilia Cheung, Lost in Time Karena Lam, Floating Landscape Sandra Ng, Golden Chicken 2 Carina Lau, Infernal Affairs 2 Athena Chu, Shiver

Winner: Cecilia Cheung, Lost in Time

Remarks - With her extraordinary performance in Lost in Time, Cecilia Cheung won this category easily. An interesting trend of 2003 was the high percentage of portrayal as prostitute. Not to mention the film roles that were not nominated, just in this category, there are already three "prostitutes", including Josie Ho from Naked Ambition, Michelle Reis from Miss Du Shi Niang and Sandra Ng from Golden Chicken 2.

Best Supporting Actor (Nominees)

Kantorates Lam Suet, PTU Francis Ng, Heroic Duo Gu Feng, Night Corridor Tony Leung, Men Suddenly in Black Andy On, Star Runner Daichi Harashima, Lost in Time Raymond Wong, Death Curse	manny468 Lam Suet, PTU Francis Ng, Heroic Duo Cheung Siu-fai, Running on Karma Shawn Yue, Infernal Affairs 2 Alex Fong, Death Curse Raymond Wong, Death Curse Leon Lai, Golden Chicken 2 Jacky Cheung, Golden Chicken 2
Ryan Lam Suet, PTU	EricLiu0709 Chapman To, Infernal Affairs 3 Chen Dao-ming, Infernal Affairs 3 Leon Lai, Golden Chicken 2 Jacky Cheung, Golden Chicken 2 Raymond Wong, Death Curse

Winner: Lam Suet, PTU, Raymond Wong, Death Curse (3 votes)

Remarks - Perhaps Raymond Wong was never an impressive drama actor in the past, he did prove to us his talent in comedy acting through Death Curse, which gained almost unaimous consent of our reviewers. Lam Suet from PTU is another notable candidate in this category which also shared the award with Raymond Wong.

Best Supporting Actress (Nominees)

Kantorates Carina Lau, Infernal Affairs 2 Wai Ying-hung, Night Corridor Terri Kuan, Turn Left Turn Right Josie Ho, Naked Ambition Karen Tong, Running on Karma Jo Kuk, Naked Ambition	manny468 Xu Jing-lei, Heroic Duo Teresa Mo, Men Suddenly in Black Jo Kuk, Naked Ambition
Ryan Carina Lau, Infernal Affairs 2 Terri Kuan, Turn Left Turn Right	EricLiu0709 Karen Tong, Running on Karma Candy Lo, Truth or Dare Josie Ho, Naked Ambition

Winner: N/A. The votes are mixed up as each reviewer's definition of supporting role is different.

Worst Portrayal of Role (Nominees)

Kantorates Tricia Chen, Fate Fighter Louis Koo, Why Me Sweetie Cookies, Feel 100% 2003 Edison Chen, Twins Effect Nick Cheung, Fate Fighter	manny468 Shawn Yue, Diva Ah Hey Shawn Yue, Feel 100% 2003 Edison Chen, Infernal Affairs 2 Lee Shan-shan, Lost in Time
Ryan Kelly Chen, Infernal Affairs 3 Edison Chen, Infernal Affairs 2	EricLiu0709 Tsui Tin-yau, Sound of Colors

Winner: Edison Chen, Infernal Affairs 2 (2 votes)
Without considering the movies attached with the candidate, Edison Chen, unfortunately, has dominated this category with 3 votes. Other than Chen, most of the candidates in this category are young and new actors. It seems that a lot of them would definitely need more training in order to grow and become successful actors.

Notes

All of the above selections were provided by the reviewers and reflect solely their perspectives. It does not represent the editorial position of Cinespot. The nominees are not listed in any order unless otherwise stated.

Criteria for nominees: Any Hong Kong movies receiving premiere in any Hong Kong theaters in 2003. In order for a movie to be qualified as a Hong Kong movie, at least 1/3 of the cast and crew should be Hong Kong residents, and the production companies or individuals should be located in Hong Kong.

Information provided by: Kantorates, manny468, Ryan, EricLiu0709
compiled by Kantorates